Single Desire
by Zerectica
Summary: There is only one thing Sarah wants. To get her life back.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Does anyone remember the Who Are You Challenge from nearly a year ago? Maybe some of you do. Well the results for that challenge have finally been released, and I am now allowed to post the story I wrote for that challenge. This is that story, unchanged since it was originally written back in September of 2009. **_

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He's wearing a deep blue T-shirt, a pair of faded jeans and his favorite shoes on his feet. His hair is starting to make those funny animals shapes that she loves so much. His scent is intoxicating. His smile lights the room. And in his soft chocolate eyes, she sees her heart.

She forgets about the food that sits in front of her. She's not interested in it. That can wait until later. Instead, she just stares at him. She can't tear her eyes away and she doesn't want to even try. But she's not just looking at him, she's studying him. She wants to memorize every minute detail of the man seated on the other side of the little table in her room. She never wants to forget. She wants this moment to live within her forever.

In one moment she's sitting at the table watching him, and in the next, they're standing together in the middle of the room. Her hand is on his shoulder, and his is on her hip. Her body is pressed against his and she can feel his warmth radiating through her. She delights in the sensation.

The table is bare, but she doesn't remember clearing it. Nor does she remember eating. Even the food that had been on her plate has been forgotten. But that doesn't concern her at all. All that matters is that she is in his arms. Nothing else is important.

She hears the music that begins to play softly in her ears. It's barely audible, but soon the melodic sound of the beautiful piano solo grows until it fills the room. It's hypnotic and Chuck is pulling her into a dance.

She goes along willingly, letting him dictate their movements. She closes her eyes and allows Chuck to take her wherever he wants. She gave all control over to him. It is his with which he can do whatever he pleases.

They glide along on the floor as their dance takes them all across the room. They fit together as one, a perfect mix-matched pair. He in his causal jeans, T-shirt and a well worn pair of Chucks. She in an elegant black dress and heels. She wouldn't have it any other way. It is perfect.

She wants to hold him like this forever and never let go. She wants the music to go on and on, never stopping. She wants to feel his skin against hers eternally. She wishes his heart could beat alongside hers forever. But the piano fades and the dance ends.

They are sitting on her bed now. The room is dark except for the light that enters in through the window. Her shoes are gone and so is her dress. Now she is wearing lacy purple lingerie and he has been stripped down to his boxers and T-shirt.

She doesn't remember how they got into this position or how they came to be in their current sate of dress, but again she doesn't care. She doesn't care at all. As long as he is with her, she isn't bothered by those little details. If she suddenly found herself alone on the moon with him, she wouldn't be worried and she wouldn't try to figure it out. She would be content in knowing that they were together.

His hand softly brushes her cheek as he tucks her golden hair behind her ear. For a moment, his hand lingers there. It makes her cheeks burn with color. She waits in nervous anticipation for him to make his next move. When he does, his fingers lightly glide across her skin, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck as he ever so gently pulls her to him. When only a sliver of air exists between them, he closes the distance with his lips.

The kiss is slow and filled with a sweet, gentle kind of love. Every moment of contact between their lips is savored. Sarah locks the feeling of his kiss in her heart. That way, it would never be forgotten.

His fingers are dancing through her golden strands. She loves the feeling. His other hand gently rests against her cheek. The feel of his hand on the delicate skin of her face is even more amazing than that of his fingers in her hair. She melts into him and the world shrinks away until all that is left is their kiss.

As she kisses Chuck, Sarah doesn't seem to need to breathe. No matter how long it goes on, she never needs to break the contact between their lips to take a breath. His kiss is like oxygen to her. She feels like it could go on forever, and if Sarah had her way, it would.

She doesn't remember when the kiss ended or how long it lasted, but now she finds herself lying under the covers, Chuck's warm body spooned against hers. His arm is wrapped around her and she holds his hand. The way in which she held his hand was as if her life depended on it, as if their joined hands kept her soul intact.

She scoots herself closer to him. She can't get close enough. Her back is now pressed firmly against his chest. But she still doesn't feel close enough. She tugs on his arm, wrapping it more tightly around her waist. She needs to feel his presence. She doesn't want to forget how it feels to lie against him, wrapped in his arms. It's too important to her that she remembers this feeling.

She listens to his steady, rhythmic breathing. He's asleep. She loves that sound. She treasures it. It is music to her ears. Before Chuck, she never knew the sound of someone sleeping could be so beautiful. But with him it is. This too she wants to remember. She wants to remember everything.

All too soon she's waking up and she's all alone. Chuck is gone. His clothes aren't splayed out on the floor and neither are hers. Every shred of evidence of his presence and any indicators of the moments they shared have vanished.

The bed she lies in is different. The room is different too. Gone is the green door and the green furniture. In this room, the door and the furniture are brown. Everything is different. Even she herself is different.

Her long golden locks are gone. Her flowing blonde hair has been replaced by shoulder-length hair of an auburn color. She is no longer Sarah Walker. She is now known by the name of Emma Roux.

As Emma rises from her bed, she leaves her dream underneath the pillow. Emma Roux doesn't know Chuck Bartowski. She's never heard of Sarah Walker. Emma has never even been to California.

As she gets ready, she transforms into her new cover identity and the woman from her dreams fades away. Emma Roux is nothing like Sarah Walker. Emma is more glamorous than Sarah. She has a much nicer job than Sarah Walker ever had. She wears more make-up. She speaks with a slight French accent.

The final step of the transformation into Emma Roux involves changing the color of her eyes. The contacts she places in her eyes changes them from their natural brilliant blue hue to a striking green. When she looks in the mirror, she doesn't recognize her own reflection. She looks so different from her usual self, her Sarah Walker self. Her own father wouldn't even know her. No one would.

Before leaving the room, she closes her eyes and the image of the man from her dreams appears. The barest of smiles graces her face. She holds onto the image and every moment from her dream floods her mind and fills her heart. For a moment, she lets herself remember. But then she opens her eyes as she says her final goodbye to him.

He will be forgotten until he visits her once again in her dreams when she falls asleep tonight. She looks forward to that. But until then, all thoughts of Chuck are eradicated from her system.

All thoughts and traces of her former life gone and forgotten, she is now ready to begin day 562 without him. When the door closes behind her, she's Emma Roux, and Sarah Walker is dead.

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_**A/N: When this story was originally written for the Who Are You Challenge, it was intended to be a one-shot. However, in the reviews left for this entry of the challenge, some people expressed curiosity and interest regarding what happened to pull Sarah away from Chuck so long. So I'll leave it up to you, the readers. Do you like this story as a one-shot, or would you like to see it continued? Either way, I hope you have enjoyed this nearly year old story.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: As you can see by the existence of this chapter, I have decided to extend this story. The initial chapter raised a lot of questions. This story will attempt to answer those questions. Chapters of this story will likely be short, but updates should be fairly frequent.**_  


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The two heavily armed guards standing outside her door are stoic. They don't speak to her or acknowledge her in any way. That's not their job. Their job is to prevent anyone from trying to enter her room. They would also prevent her from getting out of her room, should she ever try to escape during the night. Not that she would ever try such a thing.

As she walks the halls of ornately decorated mansion, she focuses on keeping her new cover intact. She can't slip up, not even for a moment. Her name is Emma Roux and she must act, think and even feel like Emma at all times. Anything less would lead to dire consequences.

When she enters the expansive, elegant dining room, she's greeted by a man named David Angotti, who places a gentle kiss on her hand. It was something he did every morning. She used to find the gesture endearing, but that was before. Now she was always looking for a way to subtly wipe the kiss away without his knowledge.

But before she tries to wash his touch away however, she must greet him in her usual manner to avoid arousing any suspicion. With false cheeriness and her fake French accent in place, she responds to his kiss with a slight nod of her head and the salutation, "Bonjour David."

David Angotti was one of the most interesting and contradictory evildoers she'd ever met. He was an illegal arms dealer with many other nefarious dealings. No one knew just how many other illegal activities he dealt in. He was very efficient at hiding his illegal businesses. It was what made him so dangerous.

He was completely cold-blooded and would kill anyone who crossed him or even looked at him wrong. But when he was around her, he was a completely different person. He was so kind and gentle. He was a complete and total gentleman. He never treated her with anything but the utmost respect.

During the year-and-a-half that she's been here, he had never pushed her into anything or tried to force anything on her. The furthest he'd ever gone with her was kissing her hand or her cheek. And it was clear that he was attracted to her and quite possible that he may have even fallen in love with her. He was always showering her with compliments and expensive gifts.

She'd actually seen him blush at times when she caught him looking at her. He seemed to always be mesmerized by her artificially green eyes or her fake smiles. And he frequently told her that her accent, which unbeknownst to David was also fake, was completely sexy. And yet, he always behaved as an absolute gentleman.

As the two sat down at the dining table, their breakfasts were served. While David was served what basically constituted to as a feast, Emma was given a glass of water and three slices of an orange. Such a meal was what she was expected to eat when she had a show to do that day. Despite the protests of her stomach, it was all she would have this morning.

Just two hours later Emma was at her work, surrounded by a small crowd of people. They were all fussing over her to make sure she looked just right. There were people tending to her makeup, her hair, and her clothing, as well as her shoes and jewelry. Even the tiniest little detail had to be just so. Everything needed to be absolutely perfect.

All of the attention focused on her made her quite uncomfortable. Despite doing this for over a year, she still wasn't used to being in the spotlight so much. Her entire life she had always been taught to not draw too much attention to herself. It was best to go unnoticed as much as possible. That philosophy allowed you to get the job done with greater efficiency, whether it be conning or spying.

The attention she was getting now was nothing compared to the overwhelming level of attention and focus that would be cast upon her in a few minutes. To make matters worse, she had no weaponry on her person, which only added to her level of discomfort. The clothing she had been put in was also restrictive. So if something were to happen, she would be completely at their mercy. And that was a feeling she detested. Helplessness was not something she dealt with well, at all.

Closing her eyes and taking a breath, she reminded herself once more that she was Emma Roux and not Sarah Walker. When she stepped out on the stage, French fashion model, Emma Roux walked the runway with absolute confidence.

When her modeling work is done for the day, the armed guards who had been following her all day, delivered her back to their boss David. Under his rule, Emma was to never be left alone. She was to be guarded at all times. He said it was for her protection, but she knew that the arrangement was also set up in order to keep close tabs on her. The only times she was allowed to be alone were the times when she was in the bathroom or at night when she slept.

During those times, the guards waited outside the doors, and none of the bathrooms in David's mansion, nor her bedroom had any windows. Other than the single door the heavily armed men guarded, there was no way in and no way out.

All of the guards and protection she was provided with used to make her feel safe, but again that was before. Now it only severed to make her feel like the prisoner that she was. She was never alone and she had no freedom. David Angotti may have treated her well, but he would never let her leave, at least not alive.

Night finally fell and Emma returned to her bedroom. Once the door was locked she allowed Emma Roux to slowly fade away and let Sarah Walker return. She shed her outer clothing, removed her makeup, and removed the contacts that altered the color of her eyes. Her hair couldn't be changed, since it was her own, just cut and colorized, but when she looked into the mirror she could finally recognize herself to some degree.

As she pulled on her nightwear, she imagined her hair being longer and blonde. When she crawled into bed and closed her eyes, Emma Roux was dead and Sarah Walker had once again come into existence. When she drifted off to sleep, she waited to be reunited with her heart in her dreams.

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_**A/N: Have any of your questions been answered or do you have even more questions now? If you're interested in learning more about what has happened, look for the next chapter, which should be released in the near future.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: I'm sorry the chapters of this story are so short, but as I said, I would try to get the chapters out quickly. And so here is the next chapter for you all to read.**_

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The sun was shinning and the birds were singing. It was an absolutely beautiful day. The kind of day that made people wake up with a smile. But Sarah was not one of those people. She hated mornings. To her it was always the worst part of the day. Morning always came far too soon and robbed her of her time with her Chuck. Yes, Sarah absolutely hated mornings.

For a moment Sarah lies on the bed and reflects on her dream. It was nearly identical to the dream from the night before. Other than slight variations, she has the same dream every night. Every day the ache in her heart grows. She has now gone through 563 days of being separated from Chuck and it's tearing her soul apart a little more with each passing day.

Rising from the bed, she slowly lets Sarah Walker go once again, to become Emma Roux. As she works on the transformation, she wonders what Chuck has been doing in her absence. And what his life is like now that she is no longer a part of it.

Chuck awoke feeling cold. It wasn't the weather that made him feel cold, nor was the coldness he felt a physical feeling at all. The coldness he felt was in his heart. It felt so empty. He had been waking every morning with the same feeling for longer than he cared to remember.

Rolling over, Chuck adjusts the angle of the picture sitting on his nightstand ever-so-slightly. The movement of the picture frame was so slight it was almost unnoticeable, but Chuck didn't adjust it for that reason. The act of adjusting the picture every morning had become a habit for him. It had been born out of an excuse to touch the picture of Sarah which sat by his bed. Over Sarah's extended absence, the act had become as natural to him as breathing and just as vital to his survival.

His heart was filled with emotion every time he looked at the picture. He missed her dearly. He missed her more than he had ever missed anyone else in his life and he missed her more than he knew was even possible. It had been hard, very hard, but he had finally come to accept that he would never see her again. She had vanished over a year-and-a-half ago.

For the first year, the CIA, the NSA and a host of other governmental agencies from around the world had searched for her with no luck. Not even a trace of her had ever been found. She had just disappeared one day while in the middle of a mission and had never again been seen.

Six months ago, the search had been called off. Sarah Walker was now assumed to be dead. An honorary funeral had been held in her memory, which various people who had known the great spy attended. Chuck, Casey and General Beckman had been among the attendees.

Despite the government calling off the search and the funeral held in her honor, Chuck refused to give up hope... that is until about a month ago, when he finally accepted that Sarah Walker was dead. The acceptance had been devastating for him. Accepting her death had had greatly detrimental effects on him. His flashes didn't function properly and often they didn't function at all. He had lost a significant amount of weight and his health had begun to decline. There were some days in which he lacked the strength to get out of bed.

Chuck had promised everyone, both in his personal and spy life that he would get better, and he was trying. It was just going to take some time. The loss of Sarah had left a huge hole in his heart and he just needed to find a way to deal with that. And he knew it wasn't going to be easy.

After his acceptance of Sarah's death, Chuck had been given a short time off from spy duties to deal with things, but now his month was up and it was time to get up and get back to work. As Casey always said, bad guys didn't take holidays. Despite all the troubles they've had lately, the now fractured Team Bartowski was still the best and the world needed them.

On the first day back, General Beckman sent the team to New York in pursuit of a dangerous man that other spy teams had failed to stop while Casey, and Chuck in particular, had been given some personal time off. Packing for a stay of about a week, Team Bartowski boarded the plane and headed to the other side of the country.

While roaming the streets of New York in an area known to be frequented by their target, Chuck was busy taking in the sights rather than paying attention to where he was going or trying to identify the target. He had narrowly missed colliding with other people several times. But Chuck's luck wouldn't hold out forever, and a few minutes later, he accidentally bumped into a young woman.

As Chuck offered a sincere, bumbling apology to the woman, a fleeting look passed through her eyes. His looks had changed some, but she still recognized him. She would know him anywhere. She would never forget him.

The recognition didn't work both ways however. Chuck never took a second look at her. Which was both a relief for Sarah and a devastating heartbreak at the same time. Her green eyes, her heavy makeup and her shortened and auburn-colored hair, created a truly effective disguise.

It was a disguise that had just saved Chuck's life and possibly her own as well. She was with David Angotti and had he noticed even the barest hint of recognition in Chuck's eyes, he would have pulled out his gun then and there and killed him before anyone could realize what was happening. And he wouldn't care about any potential witnesses. To him they would be irrelevant. After killing Chuck, he just may decide to kill her as well. So despite the great pain she felt, she was filled with relief that Chuck had just walked away from her without a second thought.

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_**A/N: Is the mystery of what happened unraveling for anyone yet, or is it just getting more tangled?**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: For those of you who have been trying to figure out the mystery of what happened to put Sarah where she is, this chapter will help.**_

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The night after she bumped into Chuck, or rather he bumped into her, Sarah's dream strayed from its usual story. Her dream wasn't about being with Chuck or trying to hold onto him. It was about saying goodbye.

Chuck had tried to object to Beckman's instructions for how the team should proceed with the mission, but she had held firm. She saw it as the approach that had the most chance of success. The mission was extremely dangerous, but one of vital importance and Beckman wanted to take as much precaution with her best team while they pursued it as possible.

Chuck and Sarah were to go their separate ways on this particular mission. Chuck was to leave within the hour, while Sarah was to stay behind to get ready for her part in the mission. When the time came, they were to meet up 'accidentally' as part of the mission.

Despite the fact that their separation would be brief, Chuck didn't like the idea of Sarah being away from him while on a mission. She wouldn't be alone however, Casey would serve as her partner until the entire team met up, but Chuck still didn't like the idea. Though he did understand Beckman's reasons for setting up the mission in this way.

He didn't have the necessary look to pull off the cover identity that Sarah's partner would need on the mission. There was also the fact that whoever was to 'accidentally' meet Sarah would interact with her in a more intimate nature, which Chuck would strongly object to if anyone else were to be given that assignment.

Before he left for his part of the mission, Chuck embraced Sarah in a hug and said goodbye. He then walked out the door, leaving her behind to allow her prepare for her part in the mission.

The moment the door shut behind him, Sarah instantly awoke. When she woke, she was sweating and filled overwhelming and crippling emotion. Her dream had not been a dream, but rather a memory. Until earlier that evening when they collided on the streets of New York, that night had been the last time she had ever seen Chuck.

Not having any windows in her prison of a room, Sarah had to look at the clock to determine when her dream had yanked her from her sleep. As she suspected, it was still the middle of the night. The clock read as only, 2:18 in the morning.

Too shaken by her memory-dream to sleep, Sarah sat up in bed, as her mind traveled back to that day.

_Casey had bid his goodbye to Sarah so that the 'accidental' meeting with Chuck could take place as planned and the mission could move forward, when an event not even the Intersect could've predicted occurred. An earthquake rocked the ground beneath their feet._

_The powerful tremors were quite strong and shook the entire structure of the building in which the mission was taking place. While attempting to make her way to somewhere safe, something large and heavy fell from somewhere above her and struck Sarah on the head, rendering her unconscious immediately._

_She doesn't know what happened after that. Nor does she know how she got out of that building. The only thing she remembers is waking up in the hospital. She doesn't even remember anything about her life before waking in the hospital._

_All she knows is what she has been told. Her name is Emma Roux. She's a French fashion model. She was at a gala when an earthquake struck, at which point she became injured. The only other thing she knew was that her life was saved by a man named David Angotti, who welcomed her into to his home while she recuperated and waited for her memory to return._

_Weeks went by and then months and her memories never returned. As the time goes by she tries to assimilate herself into the life of Emma Roux. It's difficult since she doesn't know who Emma Roux is, but eventually her life falls into a rhythm and she begins to feel a sense of peace, despite having no memories of who she is, nor knowing anything about her life before the accident. _

_She slowly starts to build her whole life anew with her new friend David Angotti. Over time, Emma comes to care for her hero who gave her a home. He treats her well and and shows her great respect. She can tell he's developed feelings for her, but not wishing to take advantage of her, he doesn't pursue a romantic relationship. He says he's willing to wait until she's released from her severe case of amnesia, so that their relationship would be true. It's a detail which only further endears Emma to David._

_After so much time has passed, Emma starts to believe that her memory is lost forever and she accepts that. So she's quite surprised when after nearly a year-and-a-half, tiny bits of her memory start to return. The first thing she remembers is that her name isn't Emma Roux, but she has no idea what her name really is._

_The knowledge that her name isn't really her name scares her, and so she keeps the revelation to herself. Any other memory that returns to her she keeps to herself as well out of the same fear. When she remembers that she's a spy and who David Angotti really is, she's truly afraid._

_It was then that she realized how just how dire a situation she had found herself in. She has no guns, knives or weapons of any sort in her possession. No one knows where she is, and whether or not she's even still alive is probably in question. She was a prisoner here and had no way of contacting anyone. The biggest problem she faced and her greatest reason to fear was David Angotti himself. He was an extremely dangerous man, who had hundreds of equally dangerous men always at his side. Angotti also had an impressive arsenal and was known to shoot and kill, without hesitation, anyone who wasn't completely devoted to him._

When she hears a knock on the door her mind returns to the present. She has apparently made some noise, thereby alerting one of the guards outside her door and prompting him to speak to her. "Miss Roux? Are you alright?"

Closing her eyes and taking a breath, Sarah finds her French accent and speaks as Emma, her voice coated with false sleepiness. "Oui, je suis très bien."

"Miss Roux? I'm sorry. I don't speak French."

Sarah had intentionally spoken in French, not to confuse the guards, but as a way of further cementing her cover. Accidentally speaking in her 'native language' in the middle of the night, while half-asleep, would make sense, since she wouldn't have expected to have someone speak to her and therefore wouldn't be thinking about needing to speak in English.

"Excusez-moi," she answered, sounding apologetic and slightly embarrassed. "Everything is okay. I was just having a little trouble sleeping."

Once she finally convinced the unusually friendly and talkative guard that nothing was wrong and that she didn't need anything, he bid her goodnight a second time, allowing Sarah to relax. The threat that her cover could potentially have been blown if the guard had persisted in his questioning had passed. Placing head on the pillow and pulling the covers back over her body, she tried to finally drift back to sleep.

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_**A/N: It seems Sarah was "rescued" by the wrong person and now finds herself in trouble. Will she ever find a way to escape? Will she be found by the right people, or will she be forced to forever live her life trapped as Emma Roux?**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Do you remember when Chuck accidentally bumped into Emma/Sarah? Sarah sure does.**_

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Seeing Chuck somewhere other than in her dreams for the first time in over 560 days has increased Sarah's sense of longing to go home and to be in his arms again. Fueled by her intense pain, she becomes more determined than ever to escape from her imprisoned life.

For the past month that she has known who she is, and more importantly who David Angotti is, she has tried to figure out a way to escape from her so called life, which could only be described as a living death, that didn't guarantee she would leave by way of actual death. So far she has not come up with an escape plan that had even held the slightest possibility of survival. Her times out of the mansion, which served as her jail were very limited and she was always closely watched by an average of a dozen trained killers.

At the mansion, Sarah had been unable to determine how many well armed men David had working in and around his home. Sometimes she believed that there was one guard for every day that she had been away from Chuck. With the odds stacked against her so astronomically, along with all the alarms, cameras and other security features of the mansion, she knew that escaping from inside its walls was impossible.

The only chance she had of possibly succeeding was an attempt which took place away from the fortified mansion. The problems of a successful escape once in the outside world were difficult to solve as well. Out there the odds were definitely stacked against her just like when in the mansion. The chances of her being able to take on twelve men with guns by herself without the aid of any weapons didn't leave her with much hope. In addition to being so few and far in-between, her times out of the clutches of the mansion's walls were also short. She never had the time she needed to properly assess her surroundings to formulate a plan to break free from her captors. And returning to any one place a second time was virtually unheard of, so every time she did get out of the mansion which had become her prison, she had to start the evaluative process all over again.

Perceiving Chuck with her own eyes, in the flesh, not only fires up her determination to get away from David, but also sends her spiraling into an ever deepening depression.

The following morning, despite her best efforts to put all of Sarah Walker away, David can tell that Emma isn't her usual self. Per their customary greeting, Emma lets David kiss her hand and she says bonjour to him with her accent in place, but the cheer that is normally present in her voice isn't there.

For the rest of the day, Emma was almost completely silent, but that wasn't really out of the ordinary as she was generally a quiet person. As such, David didn't notice any other signs of Emma not being herself that day. David attributed Emma's reaction that morning to her sleeplessness the night before and didn't think anything else of it.

The next day however, Emma seemed to be even less like herself. Not only was she not cheerful that morning when greeted by David, but she spent the rest of the day sulking around the mansion in near isolation, or as close to isolation as she could get with the guards that never let her out of their sight.

The day following that, she had become even more depressed and more unlike herself. It was nearly 2:00 in the afternoon and she hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. By now Angotti had grown quite concerned about Emma.

Throughout the morning, David Angotti had tried several times to get Emma out of her room, but had been unsuccessful. At 2:00 he began knocking on her door yet again.

"Emma, please come out of there, or at least tell me what's wrong. I'm really worried about you. I know something is bothering you. You haven't been yourself for days."

As David continued to plead with her, Sarah dragged herself out of bed and reluctantly began the transformation into Emma Roux. He hadn't yet, but at any moment David could just decide to burst into her room to find out what had her so upset and she couldn't let her cover be blown or she'd be dead. Then she'd definitely never see Chuck again and she wouldn't even be able to dream about him at night.

Once she was sure everything was in order, she sadly opened the door, at which point David immediately pulled her into a hug, which only served to darken her mood even further. She didn't want to be hugged or even touched by a man like David. She only wanted to feel Chuck's touch. She missed the feel of his arms and his warmth so much, which is probably why she dreamt about it nearly every night.

Thinking that a change of scenery might brighten her mood, David took Emma out for a late lunch. In a further attempt to bring her cheer, David chose a place which had outdoor tables to allow Emma to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin and the gentle breeze blow through her hair. He hoped that would make her feel better.

David's plan hadn't really been effective though. She hardly touched her food and she didn't pay attention to anything going on around her, something Sarah Walker would never do. But she was so depressed that she just didn't care what dangers may be around other than David Angotti and his men.

Some time after her uneaten food had grown cold, off in the distance something caught her eye that caused a reaction deep within her. In an act of desperation, fueled by her overwhelming depression, she did something foolish and bolted from the table, running off into the distance toward two men with brown hair, where one of the two had curly locks.

She didn't make it to the two men however, as David Angotti displayed his darker side. And for the very first time he used his darkness against the woman he had rescued, given a home to and loved, when he fired at shot at the girl he knew as Emma Roux.

Angotti was no amateur when it came to guns and so he had hit his intended target. When the bullet pierced through the skin, bone and tissue of the woman who was Emma Roux on the outside and Sarah Walker on the inside, she collapsed to the ground, causing the two men to react in very different ways.

One of the two men immediately pulled out his own gun and took off after the assailant, while the other bent down to check on the fallen woman with a look of panic and fear painted on his face. When he did this, the part of her which was Sarah Walker reached out to man with the curly hair, begging him to know her.

However her heart was ripped from her chest when the man responded to her plea by saying, "Um... Miss, I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are."

The pain of Chuck's words stung far worse than the bullet embedded inside her. Tears rained down from her eyes until she succumbed to the darkness, leaving her lifeless on the busy city sidewalk of New York.

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_**A/N: Well Chuck and Sarah are again in the same place, though things aren't looking too good. Chuck still doesn't recognize Sarah through her disguise, and Sarah has been shot. What is going to happen now?**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: The last chapter ended on a cliffhanger that some of you wanted to see resolved, so for those of you, here is the next chapter.**_  


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Instead of immediately going to report the incident that occurred on the streets of New York to Beckman, Casey and Chuck were at the hospital. Casey had just wanted to secure an ambulance for the victim and then leave it at that, but Chuck had insisted that they couldn't just leave and forget about her without finding out if she was going to be okay or not. So here they were, sitting around in a hospital waiting room, waiting for the doctor to emerge with word on the woman's condition.

When Chuck saw the doctor who was in charge of the woman's care exit the room in which she had been placed, he immediately got the doctor's attention and inquired about how the woman was doing.

"I'm sorry, sir." the doctor responded. "It's too soon to tell. We won't know anything until tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Casey dragged Chuck out of the hospital, telling him that they couldn't stay any longer, that they had other important matters to attend to before the day came to an end. He also reminded him that they had to get back home to California in the morning, so they wouldn't have time to come back tomorrow.

"Casey, I saw her get shot," Chuck replied in protest. "I have to know if she's going to be okay."

"We can't. Beckman wants us in the air by 8:00 AM. We've done all we could. We caught the guy responsible and made sure she got to the hospital. There's nothing more we can do."

Chuck being Chuck however, didn't listen to Casey's orders, and early the next morning he quietly got up from his hotel bed, making sure not to wake Casey on the other bed. Sneaking out of their shared hotel room, Chuck headed down to the hospital. He couldn't leave New York without knowing that the woman who was shot right in front of his eyes would be okay, not knowing would haunt him forever. Every day he would see the woman's face in his dreams and he would wonder if she was dead or alive.

Once he made it down to the hospital, Chuck headed over to the nurses station and asked to speak with Dr. Harding. While waiting for the doctor, Chuck paced the halls feeling anxious. He didn't have a lot of time to hang around. He wasn't supposed to be here. He needed to get back to the hotel before Casey woke up, if he valued his life.

The wait for the doctor seemed to last forever due to Chuck's need to rush, but finally he saw Dr. Harding walking down the hall toward him.

"Hi doctor. I was here yesterday, remember?"

"Yes, sir. I'm guessing you're here about the woman who was shot?" When Chuck nodded his head, she continued. "She's going to be here for a few more days and she'll be in pain for a while, but she's going to be fine."

"Thanks doctor. I really have to go now. I'm glad she's going to be alright."

"Wait, sir," Dr. Harding replied, putting her hand on Chuck's shoulder, causing him to stop and turn back around to face her. "Before you go, could you go in and see her for a minute? She's been asking about you repeatedly ever since she was brought in. I think she may want to thank you for making sure she got to the hospital. I believe it would be good for her to be able to see you. So do you think you could go in, just for a moment?"

Chuck looked at his watch and instantly realized Casey would be waking up soon. Even if he headed back to the hotel right now he wouldn't make back before he woke up. So Chuck decided since he was already going to be in trouble with Casey, that he could stay at the hospital for a few more minutes and walked into the room.

When Chuck entered the room, the woman appeared to be sleeping, so he didn't plan to stay long. He would just see for himself that she was okay and then he'd leave.

As he walked toward the hospital bed, Chuck noticed that the woman looked a bit different than she did yesterday, but it took him a moment to realize what it was. Her makeup had been removed. Yesterday, Chuck had noticed that the woman was beautiful, but now without any makeup on, she seemed to be even more beautiful.

When Chuck reached the bed, the woman stirred from her slumber, having sensed another presence in the room and turned around to look at him. When she did, the eyes that looked into his weren't vibrant green in color, but rather they were a gorgeous blue, a very familiar blue.

Chuck knew in an instant who those eyes belonged to. "Sarah...?"

In a voice that was barely audible, Sarah responded with a simple, "Hi Chuck."

A small smile spread across her face as she slowly reached her hand out to him.

Chuck collapsed into a nearby chair in complete shock. Lying in the hospital bed in front of him, was a woman that had dropped off the face of the Earth 567 days ago, a woman he loved, a woman he thought was dead. Chuck couldn't believe it. In fact, he didn't believe it. He was sure he was dreaming or hallucinating, or maybe he was crazy or something. Whatever it was, he was certain that it wasn't what he thought it was, because that was impossible. Or was it?

To break the silence after a few minutes of dead quiet, Sarah spoke, her voice still soft and fragile. "I'm glad you came back." Her words came slowly, almost haltingly and she had to pause between sentences. But finally she got her words out. "When you said you didn't know me yesterday I wasn't sure you would."

Listening to her speak shook some of the shock he felt off and soon Chuck began to speak as well. He now knew Sarah truly was lying there in front of him, that she was the woman he saw crumple to the ground after taking a bullet. The revelation sent his mind reeling. "Sarah how is this possible? How are you alive? The CIA, the NSA, everyone, searched everywhere for you for a year." Chuck paused for a moment before adding, "I looked for you," unable to hide the deep emotions of pain in his voice. "You just vanished and no one ever found a trace of you. Now all of a sudden you're here? What happened?"

Once Chuck finally stopped asking question after question, Sarah began to slowly explain how she had become hurt in the earthquake the night she vanished, how she awoke in a hospital with no memory of who she was. She explained how she was taken into the home of the man who had rescued her. She told him about how for almost a year-and-a-half she had no idea who she was and about how once her memory finally did return, she found herself to be a prisoner of David Angotti, who always had her surrounded by heavily armed guards who never let her out of their sight, preventing her from being able to escape.

Sarah told him about how he had bumped into her a few days before and how much she wanted to reach out to him. Finally, she explained why when she saw him again yesterday she didn't give a second thought to the safety of her life and just ran to him.

As Sarah was finishing up her story, Casey walked into the room, growling and grunting angrily in Chuck's direction... until he saw and heard the weak voice of the woman who was lying in the hospital bed. Like Chuck before him, Casey fell into a state of deep shock at seeing his 'dead' partner before his eyes.

Once the initial shock Casey felt brought on by seeing someone he thought was dead wore off, Sarah told Casey a shorted version of the story she had just told Chuck about where she had been for nearly two years.

After Sarah finished the story, Casey left the hospital without Chuck to give him and Sarah some time together. While they were catching up and reconnecting, Casey headed back to the hotel to inform Beckman of the surprise developments. First, he told her that they had caught the man they had come to New York looking for, David Angotti. And about how through a random twist of fate, he had been the man to fire his gun in the direction of the Intersect, hitting a woman. Finally, he revealed to Beckman the biggest surprise of all, that the woman Angotti had shot was none other than the long lost Sarah Walker.

Casey's report had made Beckman's head spin as well. Until the report which Casey had just given her, she had been ready to call the mission a failure. Her last and best team had been unable to find, identify and capture Angotti and they had nearly lost the Intersect and other member of the team, who had already lost one of its members about two years prior. But now she was being told that the man who had almost killed one of her team members had been identified as Angotti by the woman he had shot, who turned out to be her team's missing member.

Immediately following his report, Beckman cut off communication with Casey. She needed time to process all of the information she had just received. She also didn't want him to see her emotional response to the word that Sarah Walker had been found alive and mostly well, other than recovering from a gunshot wound and whatever psychological trauma she had suffered as a result of being a prisoner for so long.

Chuck spent every day at Sarah's bedside in the hospital for as long as the doctors would allow. Just seeing each other's faces was enough to begin to restore what they had lost when they had lost each other. Both grew stronger every day. Chuck's health improved every moment he spent with her. Sarah's bullet wound fought harder to heal whenever he was with her. Her heart and mind slowly built themselves back up when she was in his presence. Now that they were reunited, Chuck and Sarah both began to feel whole again.

When she was released from the hospital some time later, Chuck returned Sarah's life to her and finally took her back home where she belonged and where she could finally become Sarah Walker again.

* * *

_**A/N: Earlier in the story it was discovered that Sarah had been "rescued" by the wrong person, now it seems that David Angotti chose to rescue the wrong person as well. Until he took Emma/Sarah into his home no one could identify him as Angotti. Sarah paid him back for making her his prisoner and shooting her by identifying him, resulting in his downfall. Chuck and Sarah also got each other back after a lengthy and painful separation. Sarah is also able to finally leave Emma Roux behind for good and at last get to be herself again. Since everything has been resolved the story has to come to an end.**_


End file.
